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An Examination of the ‘Marriage Effect’ on Desistance from Crime among U.S. Immigrants
Final Report, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, March 2013
Cohort(s):
NLSY97
Publisher:
U.S. Department of JusticeKeyword(s):
Crime; Immigrants; Marital Dissolution; Marriage

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The findings show similarities and differences between immigrant generations regarding marriage patterns and offending. There were two key findings. First, counter to expectations of a decline in the marriage rate for the second generation of immigrants, the study found that second-generation immigrants marry at rates comparable to their White, Hispanic, and first-generation immigrant peers. Second, consistent with previous research, the study found that marriage is negatively related to crime for both first- and second-generation immigrants; however, this “marriage effect” is particularly strong for the second generation of immigrant families. Thus, consistent with previous criminological research on the marriage effect among the native-born, the results of this study show that being married fosters desistance from crime for both first-generation and second-generation immigrants. This suggests that efforts to preserve and promote family connections among immigrants and within immigrant communities should be at the forefront of immigration policy reform. Policies that result in deportation and the dissolution of immigrant families may fuel crime rates among second-generation immigrant children. The study used 13 waves of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), which is a representative survey of people living in the United States who were 12 to 16 years old during the initial round of data collection in 1997. Youth complete a self-administered questionnaire that collects information on sensitive topics such as crime/delinquency, arrest, and substance use. The dataset also includes information on family dynamics, structural factors, and individual characteristics. Of the youth surveyed in the first wave, there were 590 first-generation immigrants and 998 second-generation immigrants.

Bibliography Citation

Bersani, Bianca Elizabeth and Stephanie DiPietro. "An Examination of the ‘Marriage Effect’ on Desistance from Crime among U.S. Immigrants." Final Report, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, March 2013.

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This study examined how employment and educational experiences as well as characteristics of the neighborhood of residence interacted to influence young adults' involvement in crime.

A modest relationship was found between employment experiences and crime involvement. Those who were employed were less likely to report committing a crime in the year prior to their interview. Those involved in low skilled, less satisfying, and/or temporary jobs were more likely to have committed crimes. These findings, however, were true only for the young adults in urban areas, not those in rural areas. In rural areas, employment was unrelated to young adult criminality. Neighborhood characteristics were found to have little direct influence on the criminal behavior of young adults, and the fact or characteristics of employment were not related to the level of disadvantage of the neighborhood where respondents lived. Apparently local labor markets were more important than neighborhood characteristics in determining employment experiences. Educational experience, most notably attachment to school and to lesser extent respondents' grades, was modestly related to criminal behavior. The influence of grades on delinquency was conditioned by neighborhood disadvantage, the proportion of residents in marginal jobs, and the proportion of adults who held high school diplomas. The researchers recommend making school and educational experience the primary focus for delinquency prevention. The two datasets used in the study are referred to as the Children of the NLSY and the NLSY97. These data were combined with the 2000 census data. The NLSY97 cohort consists of approximately 9,000 youths, ages 12-16, initially assessed in 1997 and followed every year thereafter. It is designed to represent youths living in the United States in 1997 who were born in the years 1980-84. The respondents were between the ages of 18 and 20 when last interviewed.

Bibliography Citation

Crutchfield, Robert D., Tim Wadsworth, Heather Groninger and Kevin Drakulich. "Labor Force Participation, Labor Markets, and Crime, Final Report." U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, May 12, 2006.

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Survey of youth documents delinquent and other deviant behaviors. Amid concern about juvenile violence, particularly the availability of guns, it is important to develop an accurate picture of the delinquent and other deviant behaviors of the Nation's youth. Findings from self-report surveys, such as the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), include information about behavior that often does not come to the attention of juvenile justice agencies. As such, NLSY97 data can provide policymakers with unique insights into delinquency and other deviant behaviors by youth in America. The first wave of NLSY97 interviewed a nationally representative sample of nearly 9,000 youth who were between the ages of 12 and 16 at the end of 1996. The interviews were conducted in 1997 and early 1998. The survey asked youth to report whether they had engaged in a variety of delinquent or other behaviors that may lead to future delinquency. These youth will be interviewed annually to track changes in delinquent and other deviant behaviors. This Fact Sheet presents estimates of these self-reported behaviors by the youngest age group-youth who were age 12 at the end of 1996.